FIRMWARE OS017 FOR NF-1/NF-1m 
A new upgrade for the NF-1 and NF-1m, OS017 is ready for download at our download page!
First of all a little remark: For the NF-1m 'minimodor', the firmware numbering directly jumps from OS009 to OS017. This is just to have the same numbering as the NF-1. After all, these two synths are identical apart from the controls.
WHAT'S NEW?
- Waveform selection can now be done using the WAVEFORM button + SELECT encoder too, not just by repeatedly pressing WAVEFORM
- There's a new shortcut to Poly/Mono/Legato switching: OSC3 + VALUE
- And another new shortcut to the PhaseRandom parameter: OSC2 + VALUE
- Names are saved immediately after editing them. Previously you still had to save a patch after renaming it, which was a bit unlogical and confusing for many users.
But the main big novelty of this upgrade is this: crossfading the different LP/HP/BP filter outputs!
MIXING FILTER OUTPUTS
It was a suggestion made by one of our users, and actually it is so simple it's almost unbelievable we didn't come up with this idea from the beginning: instead of just selecting one of the 3 (or 4) outputs from the filter, make a crossfade possible between different combinations of the lowpass (LP), bandpass (BP) and hipass (HP) filter outputs of the main resonant multimode filter of the NF-1(m).
And so we did. In the parameter menu another synthesis parameter has been added, called 'FilterMix'. This parameter makes it possible to crossfade between:
- BP and LP filter outputs [0 - 32]
- LP and HP filter outputs [32 - 96]
- HP and BP filter outputs [96 - 127]
The 'bandstop' (BS) or notch filter of the NF-1(m) was already an equal mix of LP+HP, so the pure notch filter output can be found halfway the LP-HP crossfade at a value of 64.
There's an easy shortcut to this new FilterMix parameter on the NF-1: keep the WAVEFORM button down, and turn the VALUE knob. It takes you immediately to the FilterMix parameter in the PARAMETER menu. On the NF-1m, the SELECT encoder on the filter page now does this continuous crossfading instead of just selecting a filter output.
Full left (=0), the FilterMix provides a pure BP filter output. Values from 0 to 32 provide a mix of BP and LP signals with LP at 32. Further increasing the FilterMix parameter brings in HP signals mixed with the LP output between 32 and 96, with HP at 96. And finally 96-127 brings a mix of HP and BP.
Of course the filter TYPE button on the NF-1 keeps doing its regular job. It puts the FilterMix parameter at values of 0, 32, 64 or 96 to get the BP, LP, BS or HP outputs without crossfading.
BOOTLOADER UPGRADE
And then a last, but not unimportant thing: OS017 also introduces a new bootloader (v3), and the ability to upgrade your bootloader. This will make the upgrade procedure for future upgrades a lot easier.
The bootloader is a small piece of code that gets executed at startup. It checks if there's anything firmware upgrade-related to be done, and if not, continues normal startup.
The NF-1/NF-1m always had a quite laborious upgrade procedure, in which the user presets had to be backed up, for later reinstallation. The reason behind this is that the preset memory is used as a temporary storage during the upgrade procedure. But now, once OS017 is installed, you're asked to upgrade your bootloader. The installation of future firmware upgrades will get a lot easier after that.
With bootloader v3 installed, you don't need to do the presets backup anymore, as the upgrade process will no longer use the temporary storage. You'll be able to install future upgrades right away without this detour. *Warning* That's only true for future upgrades beyond OS017. This time, you'll still need to do the presets backup!
